Contributed by ben_conoley. Posted by ben on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 7:00 PM (EDT)

In a time when bands and artists are compromising themselves for big rock and roll dreams, it's refreshing to see an artist who has said "fuck you" to the allusions of fame and fortune for a simpler, but happier existence. With a new, darker album slated for early next year, a VW Rabbit full of re-used vegetable oil and a musically liberated soul, Fred Mascherino of The Color Fred, and formerly of Taking Back Sunday, sat down with Gen Handley from Punknews to discuss why he's in a happier place now and what the color Fred actually looks like.

Howā??s it going? What are you up to right now?

Well, things are great and Iā??ve been going through some mixes because we just started recording the next album. Iā??m pretty much done writing it, but we went and recorded the first half. Itā??s been a really mammoth writing task because for the first time ever, Iā??m trying to write about a loose concept - about a story.

So itā??s been a solid day thus far?

Oh yeah man, just hanging out. My car has been recently fixed. I donā??t know if you know this, but I have a car that runs on used vegetable oil. (laughs)

Seriously?

Yeah, itā??s an ā??82 Volkswagen Rabbit. Iā??ve had it for about three years now and every once in a while, things get a little shakey on it. Itā??s all good now and I was out this week filtering new oil that I get from a local Chinese restaurant. (laughs)

So how is The Color Fred going?

Itā??s feeling good. I mean, the EP (The Intervention) was something I did for fun and also because I wasnā??t ready for an entire album to come out yet - and it was also for Record Store Day. This is a band that I started as a side project and then it got thrust into becoming a full-time thing because obviously there were some changes in what I was doing. So now, Iā??m pushing a record full time that was meant to be a side project. Iā??m really excited about the second record and definitely anxious to get it done and out there. This is the first major recording Iā??ve done since it has become a full-time thing. You know, I was still in Taking Back Sunday when the last recording was done.

At the beginning of this conversation you had mentioned that the new album is loosely based on a concept. Can you explain what that concept is all about?

The idea is a fictional story about this couple going through a bunch of stuff. The town I grew up in is called Coatesville - itā??s like two towns over from West Chester. Itā??s the rougher city in the county and itā??s recently had a crazy string of arsons earlier this year - like, in the month of January there were 16 fires. It got to the point that about 50 houses were burned down and also about a dozen buses too. So the situation there got out of control and thereā??s a lot of anxiety with the people who live there - including my family. So I wrote a song about that situation and that song grew into a fictional story with Coatesville as the backdrop. There are also songs about not being able to sleep at night and a bunch of references to the fires. Itā??s a big undertaking for me because Iā??ve never written anything that focused before, but it was really inspiring. I mean, my familyā??s still there and I lived there for like, the first 25 years of my life.

Whatā??s the name of the new album going to be?

I donā??t have a working title yet that Iā??m ready to put out there, well, maybe one or two names right now. Like, Coatesville is a steel town and as a kid I would always see these crashed-up cars piled on top of each other, getting ready to be melted down. So thereā??s a lot of wreckage around. In the albumā??s story, the town also becomes like wreckage because of all the fires - smoldering wreckage. So Iā??m thinking that Smoldering Wreckage might be a title. Iā??m not officially saying thatā??s what itā??s going to be though. (laughs)

What else is inspiring you to write these days?

Well, Iā??m putting together a new band and thatā??s exciting. I decided to wipe the slate clean and Iā??m putting some new guys together.

Can you say who this new group will include?

I canā??t mention who they are right now, but I want to have some guys who people might be familiar with and make a really interesting group. So itā??s definitely a rebuilding moment and Iā??m literally tearing it down and building it back up the right way, in a way I would have wanted it if I had been planning on doing this the whole time.

What do you mean by that?

I mean, Bend to Break (the first album) was with a friend from here who I hung out with all the time and when we recorded it, the process was very laid back because I was still in another band. And then all of a sudden, I was like, "Oh shit, Iā??m leaving that band and Iā??m going to focus on The Color Fred now." So I got more of my friends involved, but now, with the new album, Iā??m thinking about things more. The subject matter of the second album has brought on darker songs, which are little bit meaner, so I want to get a solid group of guys together for the newer stuff.

Cool. What are you listening to now?

Man, Iā??m listening to a bunch of different stuff right now. I just got my needle replaced on my record player and I have about a hundred records so Iā??ve been listening to them a lot. Like, old stuff like Firehose, even Peter Gabriel and Led Zeppelin and the Bad Brains. For the newer stuff, I like Good Old War and I saw them live and thought they were amazing. I also recently got the Dangerous Summer CD and I like that.

Have you listened to the last Taking Back Sunday album (New Again)?

(pauses) To be completely, 100-per-cent honest, I have not given it a full listen. I donā??t know why, but I just think it might be tough.

This might be a silly question, but why is it tough for you?

Itā??s kind of likeā?¦itā??s kind of like you ex, you know? (laughs) So I want to hear it, but just havenā??t actually done it yet.

So you havenā??t heard the song "Summer, Man" yet?

Is that one of the "ones?" I heard something about "Capital M-E" and I listened to that song one time. But no, I havenā??t heard "Summer, Man" - is that maybe another one I should listen to?

Yeah, fair enough. So you before The Color Fred, you were in two bands, correct? Breaking Pangaea and then Taking Back Sunday?

Actually Brody was the first band I ever toured across the country with. Before that was high school stuff and I would go into the bars in Philly to play when I was 17. The venues were like, "Alright, you better stay away from the bar." (laughs) But after that, once I got into college, it was Brody, and that led to where we are now.

So how has your past lives in other bands affected your place as a musician now?

Iā??m really comfortable with where Iā??m at. Like, a lot of people said, "How could you leave that life? How could you leave the two buses and semi truck and four-star hotels?" The thing is, I had it the other way much longer - like, sleeping in vans and all of that. Where Iā??m at now is better than all of that.

Explain.

Like, when people asked me why I left my last band I would say, "I wasnā??t happy." And they were like, "Yeah, but the moneyā?¦" and Iā??d say, "Yeah, well I did do it. I stuck it out and Iā??m doing this and now Iā??m happier." I mean, Iā??m used to this. Before, I had jobs where I was digging holes for plumbers and painting houses and warehouses and doing blacktop on parking lots. At least Iā??m not going back to that. (pauses) Sorry man, Iā??m not sure if I answered your question. (laughs)

No worries. I guess I was wondering how these past creative experiences have contributed to your current music?

Well recently, Breaking Pangaea reunited in my basement for one day. We played all of the songs - about 25 or something - and we played some that werenā??t even released just to see if we could remember them. It was weird to play songs that you wrote seven years ago and havenā??t played since. But it really spelled things out and I was thinking, "Man, if I rewrote this song now, it would not go like this." (laughs) My thing is that Iā??ve always wanted my music to be different and not boring. The only criticism I hear about Bend to Break is that itā??s too poppy. But that was the whole mission. I was in TBS at the time and I had all of those songs in my head that were too poppy for TBS so I decided to go record them anyway to see how they came out. Now Iā??m recording a new album and I can do anything I want and it feels good.

So, youā??re feeling pretty liberated these days.

Yeah, thatā??s a great way of putting it.

Is the future bright?

Yeah, definitely. Between putting the new band together and the acoustic stuff Iā??ve been doing, itā??s been a lot of fun. The acoustic tour is a very different side of it. At my acoustic shows, I play songs from all these bands Iā??ve been in that weā??ve been talking about. Iā??ll play Breaking Pangaea songs. Iā??ll play covers. Iā??ll even play TBS songs. I take requests because I write a really loose set list and just go with the flow - itā??s a pretty cool show. When I was on an acoustic tour with Craig Owen (lead singer of Chiodos) earlier this year, I had a lot of fun so thatā??s why Iā??m going out again.

Ok, back to the new album. It sounds like it may be a little heavier, am I right?

Yeah, to an extent. Itā??s still going to sound like a lot of the music youā??ve ever heard me write, but there will be some screaming moments and more produced, thick guitar parts. Iā??m not saying Iā??m recording a heavy album, but it will be a meaner version of me.

Well there be any songs about your last band on the album?

Actually, no. I made a decision to never do that again. I trashed the lyrics to a song that was about my frustration with that situation. So I ended up redoing the lyrics because Iā??m over it.

Right on. Alright, my last question: Can you describe to the Punknews readers what the colour Fred actually looks like?

Well it changes, you know. It was definitely the colour of forest and the Northwest on the first record - like a breath of fresh air. But the new record is going to be more the colour of fire - a dark glowing red with a black and sooty-ash colour. Itā??s like a camp fire thatā??s going out and the log is still glowing. Itā??s not quite bright orange - thatā??s the colour of my Rabbit. (laughs)

I was just listening to "white Riot" by the Clash while in the car. I heard sirens at the beginning coming in from non-existent to blending with the song. I thought "I've never heard sirens like that before, that's crazy" then an ambulance came blowing around the corner behind me and I felt like an idiot.

I also hate it when songs have telephones ringing in them. I turn the music down only to realize I turned down the telephone.

Whenever that stuff used to happen in songs when I was like 12 or 13, my mother would freak out, turn the radio down and pull over to the side of the road. She would get so mad at me when she realized it was just the music I was making her listen to.

It's much better, it's got a little different vibe to it (although "Liar" off Louder Now remains one of their all-time best). I actually didn't dig WYWTB too much save for maybe 4 or 5 tunes. TAYF is a classic, obviously.

there's a commercial for a local tech school that;s really annoying. they basically bash four year colleges throughout. "no ivory tower intellectuals...professors who've actually had a job outside the classroom." and such.

do you really need a lyric sheet for this album? but i agree about "without you". i'm going through a breakup & this album is just what i needed.
also baldsteve, if you're reading this, i'm sorry for antagonizing you. this album is better than warning device.

If you don't like that kind of music, it obviously won't appeal to you, so I don't see why I should try. And unfortunately, you are only marginally correct, because it is not past my bed time, it IS my bed time.

ever seen a public suicide??? i swear that guy on the show man vs. food is slowly killing himself each episode. i can't even begin to fathom all the badness that comes from the good looking food he eats...

That new Cowboys stadium has to be the most ridiculous thing I've seen in a long while. Only in Texas. It's like some kid jacked up on Mt. Dew with WWE posters all over his wall and a permanently powered on Xbox designed a stadium.

How is it embarassing? It's fucking monstrous and really gives everyone in the stadium a great view even if they have shittiest of seats. I know your 26 or something but don't go all old man on me and start saying how dem cowboys techmonology is too much these days.

I've been to plenty of games at Qwest Field were you can see just fine from the top without the need of a scoreboard the size of Delaware. And why bother going if you're going to watch it on tv anyway? Save the damn money.

That last point is the most hypocritcal thing to say possible. You just said how you yourself went to a game in the first part of this. I've said it a bunch of times too but we both know that actually going to a game is a much different experience than watching it on TV. For better or for worse is preference.

I know you're better than this. Don't let your bias blind you from that over compensated atomic bomb. Plus, George Bush flipped the coin and received a huge amount of applause. You enjoy your XFL stadium.

What percentage of that was built with public taxdollars?
I'd be outraged - we're in the midst of the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s, and they built a multi-billion dollar building for show business?

I had never seen the show, but had premise in my head based on the title, where all the states are championed, all the while giving a big 'fuck you!' to Alaska & Hawaii.
Then I saw the show. I think I liked my idea better

The colour fred equals a cheap taking back sunday with fred mascherino..... While constantly spinning 80's clash records and slam dancing in your parents basement which you should have moved out of 15 years ago